Why are people more annoyed or afraid of moths than fascinated? Is it their appearance at night, the fluttering, the banging into the porch light?

"I think it is the movement that they don't understand. It seems erratic and not purposeful like a bird's," offered Claire Arthurs, manager of education with the Staten Island Museum. She was standing at a dazzling collection of mainly exotic (non-native) moths that illustrated their sometimes subtle beauty — more in patterns than vibrant color. The display was donated to the museum by Taylor Jones.

"The are very peaceful and great pollinators," she said, one of a few naturalists singing the praises of the flamboyant butterfly's seemingly shy cousin.

Ed Johnson, director of science with the Museum, added that there are many more species of moth than butterflies.

"There are 100 species of butterflies on Staten Island. For moths, there are at least 500," he said. The latter number is from a survey in the 1920s by Leng and Davis.

"It could be up to 800," said Johnson.

Evidence of moths is sometimes found in the holes in woolens and some are found in cereal or flower abandon in the back of the cabinet. But they are the minority, says Johnson, most moths are either neutral or beneficial as pollinators and food for other animals.

Then he remembered the moth he had seen most recently, the squash vine borer. He said it was really beautiful and destructive in the garden, true to its name.

Outside, Mike Shanley was fielding questions at the "moth wall," he had constructed with a UV or black light and a sheet. Nearby was "sugaring," some old bananas, sugar and beer, laid out to lure the moths.

A wood thrush joined by an Eastern towhee were serenading. Shanley said a yellow-bellied cuckoo could be heard earlier.

"They circle around (electric) light because they are disoriented. Moths navigate by the moon. With cloud cover, they are distracted by other lights," explained Shanley, president of Friends of Blue Heron Park.

Not to be lured into spotlight, a tulip tree beauty was spotted on the center's wall by an observant participant.

Kassidy, 5, and Kayla, 3, were getting a look at everything they could, shepherded by their mom Brooke Skelly-Yolland, a city Park Ranger from South Beach.

She said she saw the event on Facebook.

"They like fireflies and bugs in general. This is an opportunity to be out in nature and see other living things," she said.

Johnson got everyone rounded up for the short hike on a loop trail.

"Everything is different at night," he said.

Sure enough, once a slug was spotted and a spider, your attention shifts from the novelty of the dark to the possibility of finding something yourself on a tree trunk or log.

Not many moths were spotted, but when they were they flew in the cone of a light until they escaped back to the dark.

Near the end of the walk, I caught one in my light and observed how fast the wings whir. It was flying low and as I tried to keep it in the light, Kayla scampered ahead.

"I touched it. It went right on my finger," she announced, sounding delighted.

Shanley said he sees hundreds of moths in Pennsylvania, but the numbers at the event and in his backyard don't come close. He strongly suspects that the spraying for West Nile disease is taking its toll on the local moth population.

"It's killing everything that flies at night," he said. Insects are important part of the food chain, he noted. The Eastern screech owl, for example, loves dining on moths.

The evening wound down with the relaxed group taking seats in a semi-circle around a performance area in which the Deep Tanks Butoh Dancers performed "Moth Ball," an interpretation of the plight of the moth in the modern world. Basking in the light of a moon-like orb, the dancers moved in moth-like poses. The introduction of artificial light — generated by a stationary bicyclist — pulls them away from the natural light and puts them in an exhaustive frenzy.